MP GRAHAM Stringer claims the new draft Local Transport Bill - offering cash for local authorities to implement congestion charging - is putting councils in the political firing line.

He believes the Bill, if it becomes law, will divert political flak against the government towards local authorities working towards imposing the Toll Tax on roads in Greater Manchester.

Drivers in north and east Manchester, including Gorton and Levenshulme, are expected to be hit financially if a C-Charge is introduced locally.

Already the local elections held at the beginning of May have caused a shake-up within the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA), both of which announced their intention to impose the Toll Tax in January.

Since then Rochdale, Stockport and Trafford councils have rebelled against the scheme, and a fourth, Bury, looks set to follow suit soon.

Mr Stringer said: "I think local authorities have every right to be sceptical. The government is trying to transfer the risk of an unpopular scheme on to local government."

Details are soon to be unveiled of the Greater Manchester bid to introduce congestion charging.

The government says £1bn is available for public transport improvements in return for a road pricing scheme to be operational within ten years. In January GMPTA and AGMA listed 15 main routes throughout Greater Manchester which they said would be subject to road pricing, expected to cost around £6 per journey. They believe the cost of a good transport system would be more in the region of £3bn of public transport improvements.

Roads listed included the A6 Stockport Road and A57 Hyde Road through Levenshulme and Gorton, as well as the A664 Rochdale Road through Blackley, Harpurhey and Collyhurst, the A62 Oldham Road for Newton Heath and Miles Platting, and the A635 Ashton Old Road through Openshaw.

Mr Stringer has condemned road pricing as an unjust tax, claiming Greater Manchester should have an efficient public transport system without motorists having to foot the bill.

The Transport Bill gives councils the power to bring in local road-pricing schemes. Those could, if successful, act as a pilot for a UK-nationwide satellite-based 'pay as you drive' system.

Greater Manchester is among 10 areas preparing to bid for money from a £200m-a-year government fund for public transport - and introduce local congestion charges in return. Details of the Greater Manchester proposals will be formally unveiled tomorrow (Friday) by transport chiefs.

Transport improvements would be paid for with just over £1bn from the government cash, plus nearly £2bn more borrowed in advance and paid back with expected profits from the congestion charge.

Drivers would pay according to when they used roads within certain corridors, and for how long.

The Bill - which still needs to be approved by parliament - falls short of early hopes that local public transport would be regulated, similar to the scheme in London. Instead it would let local authorities negotiate 'quality contracts' for private operators to run particular routes at particular times.

THE Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has reiterated its previous opposition to the Toll Tax, complaining that it has been excluded from the decision-making panel overseeing Greater Manchester's C-Charge plan.

The Federation says it is angry that the 15-strong panel mainly comprises representatives from publicly funded bodies.

The composition of the panel was agreed privately between AGMA and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which had earlier pronounced disquiet over the plan when it was announced in January.

The FSB north west policy chairman Mike Pearson has written to AGMA leader Lord Peter Smith pointing out that the group needs a truly independent organisation to offset the `unequal' representation from the public sector.

He said it would make sense for a representative from the FSB to be included on the panel.

He explained: "One of the criteria for any congestion charging scheme put forward for funding from the Transport Investment Fund is that it has the support of the business sector - consulting the FSB's vast regional membership would ensure this criteria had been met to a far greater independent degree."